Government-led Projects Research Articles

Identifying the institutional modalities for commencing Environmental-Economic Accounting for the ocean

Ocean Accounting (OA) is an emergent framework to collate environmental, economic, and social data in a standardised manner, aligned with existing international statistical accounting standards. This involves the recording of the interactions between the ocean and the economy, considering both the contributions of the ocean to economic activities and the impacts of human activities on the ocean. The OA framework offers a multidisciplinary approach to deriving statistics and indicators that consider the ocean’s contribution to society and the economy. As implementation of OA increases globally, there is a need to understand the modalities in which governments commence activities, including potential impacts to the use and maintenance of accounts into the future. Here, we conduct a global review of countries that have commenced OA activities and define the modes of implementation across 24 identified countries. Two modes were identified, (i) government-led (13 countries) and (ii) externally led (i.e., non-government institutions, 11 countries). To determine the strategic and operational implications associated with each mode, the study performed a Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) analysis via expert elicitation. The SWOT analysis of government-led implementation identified strengths in centralised coordination and alignment with policies, but weaknesses included limited expertise and resources. External institutions (e.g., universities or consultants), despite offering diverse expertise and cost-effectiveness, face challenges such as legitimacy issues and misalignment with government policies, posing risks to program sustainability. As OA activities progress, countries may transition from externally led implementation to government-led projects. Understanding each mode's implications offers important insights for countries considering future implementation of OA.

가치창출 패러다임 전환을 위한 주요 5개국 인문·기술 융합연구 정책지원 사례 분석

This study examines the evolution of humanities policies in South Korea, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and China over the past 20 years. Each country has taken different initiatives to develop the humanities in tandem with technology. For example, the United States provides a longitudinal support plan to facilitate an interdisciplinary combination of cutting-edge technologies with the humanities, and Japan combines the digitization of the humanities with government-led projects in the economic and IT sectors. Taiwan has also actively promoted collaboration between technology and the humanities as a means of solving social problems, and China has a state-led humanities revitalization plan to nurture new talent. South Korea, following its “Jeju Humanities Statement (1996)”, has not only implemented various programs to generate new knowledge based on the humanities, but also legalized educational policy support for such actions by enacting a “Humanities Law”.
 Using the triple helix model, we aim to define the actions of its three pillars (i.e., university, government, and industry) and analyze the strategic aspect of the goals and outcomes of each nation's policies. Through word cloud text analysis, 56 keywords were extracted from 34 projects in 5 countries and conceptualized as the following four core strategies: (a) expanding infrastructure, (b) widening research scope, (c) linking to industrialization, and (d) building a digital foundation. Further, this study sheds light on the need to expand humanities research and proposes a new paradigm for interdisciplinary research with the potential to lead social change. In conclusion, our study calls for both the revitalization of existing humanities infrastructures and the cultivation of humanities research integrated with other sectors. We also suggest the need to create an environment in which experts from all fields can actively collaborate, a shift in support mechanisms, and practice-based performance evaluation.

Key Features of Indonesia’s State Capitalism Under Jokowi

State capitalism has been expanding rapidly since President Joko Widodo came into power in 2014. During the past decade, the absolute size of state-owned entities has grown notably, and many have acted as ‘agents of development’ in charge of conducting government-led projects, especially in the area of physical infrastructure. While this trend and characteristics are reminiscent of the previous surge of state capitalism under Suharto before the 1997 Asian financial crisis, there also exist significant differences. First, state capitalism is surging in an economy that has been liberalised to a significant degree compared to the past. Furthermore, state capitalism is expanding along with the government’s efforts to improve the business environment for the private sector through market liberalisation. In the case of state-led infrastructure development, it is legitimised by emphasising the importance of improving connectivity in vitalising the private sector. Second, state capitalism is surging in the context of political democracy, as opposed to authoritarianism. Therefore, the mobilisation and management of state-owned entities and the side effects of those efforts are closely scrutinised by various stakeholders. The government needs to respond to their criticisms if it wishes to continue using state capitalism as an important engine for economic development.

A review of government-led health and productivity management and disclosure practice in Japan

The concept of occupational health and safety (OHS) is changing to include more job-related factors, resulting in an enlarged role for OHS management and a greater need for information disclosure in response to social expectations. It is vital for businesses to keep up with the new concept in health management and build a cohesive system if they are to achieve their sustainability goals. This paper examines current regulations and government initiatives to encourage health management and information sharing, as well as company practices in Japan, demonstrating that an increasing number of Japanese companies are adopting the new health management approach. We suggest a government-led H&PM model based on the model proposed by Johanson and Aboagye and best practices in Japan, demonstrating that legislation, policies, and implicit employee-centered stakeholder culture are important factors in the success of government-led projects. It also suggests that, to prevent window dressing and one-time booms, intrinsic motivation and psychological aspects should be researched and addressed more thoroughly.

Differences in Determinants Influencing Self-Rated Oral Health in Korean and American Adults.

This study aims to identify the differences in the determinants that influence self-rated oral health (SROH) among Korean and American adults aged 20 years or older and the differences in objective oral health status between Korea and the United States. It included 13,068 Koreans and 5569 Americans who participated in the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2017–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. All analyses were conducted using the SPSS 25 program. The 39% of Koreans and 27.7% of Americans rated their oral health as “poor”. The mean SROH score was lower in Korea (2.66) than in the US (3.15). Conversely, objective oral health was better among Koreans. Further, an analysis of the differences in the predictors of SROH between the two countries confirmed that there were significant differences in age, household income, education level, insurance type (none), type of smoking, self-rated health, and decayed teeth index. Government-led projects or policy-based changes that can improve objective oral health status are needed to boost SROH in Korea, and subsequent studies should examine other objective oral health indices (e.g., periodontal disease) as well as differences in sociocultural backgrounds between countries.

Situation and Treatment Methods of Ecological and Environmental Problems during the Process of Urbanization in Rural Areas of China

Rural urbanization is a process of population agglomeration catalyzed by industrialization. At present, China’s urbanization process is accelerating against the backdrop of rapid social development. However, in some areas, economic development is emphasized, while the protection of the ecological environment is neglected, leading to the increasingly obvious contradiction between urbanization and rural ecological environment and is not conducive to economic development. In this paper, the development trend of China’s rural urbanization, the current situation of environmental pollution, and the progress of important environmental treatment projects are analyzed. Accordingly, the main problems in rural environmental protection and the impact of urbanization are explored. The problems led by industrial and domestic pollutants have been amplified by urbanization, while the improved connection between urban and rural areas will benefit the improvement of environmental infrastructure in rural areas. The government-led projects of rural water improvement, sanitary toilet penetration, methane gas production, and solar water heater have made great progress during the past two decades. Based on these understandings, we put forward feasible countermeasures to implement rural ecological environment protection during the process of urbanization to promote the benign development of rural urbanization. Our results will be helpful in providing some useful references for environmental protection in rural areas and promoting the coordinated development of the economy and environment during the process of urbanization in China.

What organizational conditions, in combination, drive technology enactment in government-led smart city projects?

Nowadays, an increasing amount of literature acknowledges that smart cities’ core aspect is not technology per se but how organizational characteristics and capabilities influence the technology enactment. However, the extant studies primarily focus on business-led smart city projects. Little attention is paid to the causal relations between organizational conditions and technology enactment in government-led projects. Therefore, there is a research gap concerning what conditions of governmental organizations, singly or jointly, drive technology enactment in smart city projects. To fill the gap, this article establishes three increasing levels of smartness and formulates four government conditions. Based on this conceptual framework, this article explores different configurations of organizational conditions that lead to varying levels of smartness. It uses the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) method to study 11 smart city projects in Hangzhou, China. The results generate three configurations of organizational conditions that lead to decisional intelligence, indicating that multiple pathways exist to achieve the highest level of smartness. These configurations often emphasize the significant role of human resource pressure in driving decisional intelligence. But no single condition is necessary because when human resource pressure is absent, strong financial capacity, good information-sharing, and facilitative leadership can work together as a substitution.

포스트 코로나 시대 수술 로봇의 역할 및 발전 방향에 관한 전망

The COVID-19 pandemic has been reshaping the world by accelerating non-contact services and technologies in various domains. Hospitals as a healthcare system lie at the center of the dramatic change because of their fundamental roles: medical diagnosis and treatments. Leading experts in health, science, and technologies have predicted that robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) can drive such a hospital transformation. Accordingly, several government-led projects have been developed and started toward smarter hospitals, where robots and AI replace or support healthcare personnel, particularly in the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment procedures. This article inspects the remaining element of healthcare services, i.e., surgical treatment, focusing on evaluating whether or not currently available laparoscopic surgical robotic systems are sufficiently preparing for the era of post-COVID-19 when contactless is the new normal. Challenges and future directions towards an effective, fully non-contact surgery are identified and summarized, including remote surgery assistance, domain-expansion of robotic surgery, and seamless integration with smart operating rooms, followed by emphasis on robot tranining for surgical staff.

Ritual Spaces, Governmentality and Cultural Governance in Urban Development: The Case of Shenzhen

Recently, the concept of “cultural governance” has gained analytical traction in research on Chinese urban development. This is mostly diagnosed as a top-down process of defining and imposing cultural forms in government-led projects, such as in tourism. We argue that the case of Shenzhen manifests important differences, and is highly significant, considering the national and international status of this mega-city. Based on detailed field studies, supplemented with information about other cases, we show that in Shenzhen local cultural forms show resilience and increasing public presence, while also being shaped by inclusive cultural policies that are informed by the national drive towards reinstating traditional Chinese values as part and parcel of national identity. One manifestation is the enactment of the traditional ritual space of the village in urban architecture, such as the duality of ancestral hall and village temple, often at so-called “cultural squares,” and the expression of territorial ambitions of lineages in competitive projects of redevelopment. We suggest enhancing the concept of cultural governance by the concept of governmentality to grasp these phenomena analytically.

Analysis of the State of the Art of International Policies and Projects on CCU for Climate Change Mitigation with a Focus on the Cases in Korea

In 2016, the Korean government selected carbon capture and utilization (CCU) as one of the national strategic projects and presented a detailed roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to create new climate industries through early demonstration of CCU technology. The Korean government also established the 2030 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Roadmap in 2016 and included carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology in the new energy industry sector as a CCU technology. The Korean government recognizes the importance of CCUS technology as a mid- to long-term measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implements policies related to technological development. The United States (U.S.), Germany, and China also expect CCUS technology to play a major role in reducing greenhouse gases in the industrial sector in terms of climate and energy policy. This study analyzed the CCU-related policies and technological trends in the U.S., Germany, and China, including major climate and energy plans, driving roadmaps, some government-led projects, and institutional support systems. This work also statistically analyzed 447 CCU and CCUS projects in Korea between 2010 and 2017. It is expected to contribute to responding to climate change, promoting domestic greenhouse gas reduction, and creating future growth engines, as well as to be used as basic data for establishing CCU-related policies in Korea.

Prefigurative Post-Politics as Strategy: The Case of Government-Led Blockchain Projects

Critically engaging with literature on post-politics, blockchain and algorithmic governance, and drawing also on knowledge gained from undertaking a three year empirical study, the purpose of this article is to better understand the transformative capacity of government-led blockchain projects. Analysis of a diversity of empirical material, which was guided by a digital ethnography approach, is used to support the furthering of the existing debate on the nature of the post-political as a condition and/or strategy. Through these theoretical and empirical explorations, the article concludes that while the post-political represents a contingent political strategy by governmental actors, it could potentially impose an algorithmically-enforced post-political ‘condition’ for the citizen. It is argued that the design, features and mechanisms of government-led projects are deliberately and strategically used to delimit a citizens’ political agency. In order to address this scenario, we argue that there is a need not only to analyze and contribute to the algorithmic design of blockchain projects (i.e. the affordances and constraints they set), but also to the metapolitical narrative underpinning them (i.e. the political imaginaries underlying the various government-led projects).

Is Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) a feasible option for Sub-Saharan Africa?: Investigating the techno-economic feasibility of CSP in Tanzania

There is a noticeable shortage of solar energy related information in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially about Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology. The Tanzanian official generation expansion plan till 2040 showed high dependency on coal and gas fired power plants and a negligible role of renewables other than large hydropower. This study investigates the techno-economic feasibility of CSP technology in Tanzania, through modelling Parabolic Trough and Solar Tower CSP technologies using the System Advisor Model developed by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Under debt interest rate of 7%, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for the modelled Solar Tower plants ranges from 11.6 to 12.5 ¢/kWh while for the modelled Parabolic Trough plants ranges from 13.0 to 14.4 ¢/kWh. The LCOE increases significantly from 14.4 ¢/kWh (at 7% debt interest rate, for government-led projects) to 25.9 ¢/kWh (at 18% debt interest rate, for private investors-led projects). The study concludes that the feasibility of CSP in Tanzania is strongly dependent on the financing conditions. Policy mechanisms to de-risk CSP projects' investment through accessing lower debt interest rate are required to ensure the competitiveness of CSP projects in the country.

The worldwide trend of using botanical drugs and strategies for developing global drugs.

Natural product drugs, or botanical drugs, are drugs composed of natural substances which have constituents with health-enhancing or medicinal activities. In Korea, government-led projects brought attention to botanical drugs invigorating domestic botanical drug industry. Foreign markets, as well, are growing bigger as the significance of botanical drugs stood out. To follow along with the tendency, Korea puts a lot of effort on developing botanical drugs suitable for global market. However, standards for approving drug sales vary by countries. And also, thorough standardization, certification, clinical studies and data of these will be required as well as data confirming safety and effectiveness. Meanwhile, as an international exchange in botanical drug market continues, the importance of plant resources was emphasized. Thus countries’ ownership of domestic natural resources became vital. Not only establishing a systematic method to secure domestic plant resources, but also cooperation with other countries on sharing natural resources is essential to procure natural resources effectively. Korea started to show visible results with botanical drugs, and asthma/COPD treatment made out of speedwell is one example. Sufficient investment and government’s active support for basic infrastructure for global botanical drugs will bring Korea to much higher level of botanical drug development.

이화동 벽화마을 주민과 관광객간의 장소 정체성 인식 및 경관 선호 차이에 관한 연구

마을에서 벽화는 커뮤니티와 공간을 재생시키는 효과와 함께 경제적 효율성까지 겸하고 있다. 이 때문에 한국에서는 정부기관과 지자체를 중심으로 벽화조성사업을 활발히 진행하고 있고, 현재 벽화와 조형물 중심의 마을 프로젝트는 전국적으로 200곳에 이른다. 하지만 벽화마을 조성사업은 사업의 단기적 완결에 초점을 맞추어 획일화된 경관을 보급하고, 장소의 정체성을 오히려 파괴한다는 문제점이 제기되고 있다. 또한, 정부 주도 사업으로 조성된 벽화는 주민참여가 저조하여 지속가능한 경관관리가 잘 이루어지지 못하는 문제도 지적될 수 있을 것이다. 본 연구는 벽화마을의 효시로 일컫고, 각종 미디어에서 주목받으며 급격한 경관 및 공간의 변화를 겪고 있는 이화동 벽화마을을 중심으로 벽화마을의 경관 변화과정의 맥락을 비판적 관점에서 살펴보고자 하였다. 본 연구의 목적은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 이화동 벽화마을의 경관 및 장소 정체성에 대한 주체 간의 인식 차이를 살펴보고자 하였다. 이를 통해 장소의 정체성을 살리고, 경관 선호 차이를 고려한 장소 만들기에 필요한 기반을 마련하였다. 둘째, 이러한 데이터를 통해 벽화사업을 평가하고 발전방향을 모색하고자 하였다. 연구방법으로는 문헌조사를 통해 경관변화 과정의 맥락을 살펴보고, 이를 바탕으로 SNS로 재현되는 이화동의 경관자원을 분석하여 관광지로써의 현황 및 관광객들의 선호 경관을 파악하였다. 또한, 주민, 벽화사업으로 인한 새로 유입된 이주민, 관광객 각 이용집단 간 이화동 벽화마을의 장소 정체성 인식 및 경관선호의 차이를 심도 있게 알아보기 위해 현장조사 및 심층인터뷰를 진행하였다. 연구의 결과는 관광객들은 벽화 외에 의도적으로 조성하지 않은 풍경 또한 많이 주목하였는데, 선호 풍경과 선호 상점의 위치가 많은 부분 겹쳐 풍경감상이 가능한 장소의 인근 상점이 선호되고 있음을 파악하였다. 장소의 정체성에 대해 주민은 소외된 동네라는 인식이 강한 반면, 이주민과 관광객들은 비일상적 경관인 벽화를 장소의 정체성이라고 인식하였다. 경관 선호의 경우, 관광객은 휴식공간에 대한 선호가 높은 반면, 이주민과 주민은 휴식공간에 거의 주목하지 않았다. 또한, 이주민, 관광객은 특히 야간경관에 대한 선호를 보인 반면, 주민은 전혀 주목하지 않았다. 벽화사업의 방향과 관련해서는 주민과 이주민 모두 벽화조성 및 관리 등에 주체적 참여의식을 갖기보다는 정부에 의존적인 태도를 취하는 이들이 많았다. 본 연구는 전국적으로 확산되고, 도시재생, 참여디자인 등에 관해서 비판 없이 받아들여지고 있는 벽화마을 경관에 대한 문제점을 실증연구를 통해서 분석했다는 점에서 의의가 있을 것이다. 또한, 주민, 이주민, 관광객간의 장소 정체성 및 경관 선호의 차이를 분석하여 추후 벽화마을 사업에 시사점을 제공할 수 있으리라 기대한다. Murals in villages revitalize communities and spaces, and are economically efficient. Central and local governments are therefore actively undertaking Mural Village Projects but there are some issues and concerns about the projects for the provision of uniformed landscapes for the regions that are the result of a short-term completion of projects, and instead of cohesion, cause destruction of place identities. In addition, the problem of sustainable landscape management that is the result of low community involvement can be pointed out because the murals are products of government-led projects. The study covered the context of landscape and space change processes from a critical perspective, and focused on Ihwa-dong Mural Village, which is considered the first mural village in Korea and has begun to undergo drastic changes due to attention received from media. The purposes of this study are as follows. First, the study provides data about difference of place identity perception and landscape preference between residents and tourists in Ihwa-dong Mural Village. Second, this paper evaluates the current Mural Village Projects and finds alternative directions to improve the projects by using these data. This paper analyzed tourist hot spots in Ihwa-dong Mural Village by using SNS analysis, a field study and focus group interviews. The difference of place identity perception and landscape preference was examined among three groups: residents, new residents who are invited by Mural Village Projects, and tourists. This study showed that many tourists are focused on landscape areas that were not intentionally constructed projects. In addition, the locations of preferred landscapes and stores overlapped. Meanwhile, using qualitative data analysis, it was found that residents perceived the area as being an under-privileged location, while the murals, a non-daily landscape, largely affected place identity perception of new residents and tourists. For landscape preference, tourists preferred outdoor rest areas, while new residents and residents preferred less. Additionally, new residents and tourists preferred an area's night view while residents made no mention of this. Related to the direction of the projects, three groups showed their dependence on the government. This empirical study is significant from a participatory design perspective and in analyzing the issues for mural villages' landscapes, which are spreading across the nation and proceeding without criticism in urban regeneration. Implications for urban planners and suggestions for the future projects are given.

Forest Cover Changes in the Three-North Shelter Forest Region of China during 1990 to 2005

The Three-North Shelter Forest Region (TNSFR) of China exhibits obvious forest cover changes that have been caused by numerous government-led afforestation and reforestation projects in recent decades. This study investigated the forest cover changes in the TNSFR during 1990-2005 based on a land cover dataset developed by the Chinese Academy of Science using remote sensing data and analyzed its relationship with meteorological change trends. The results indicated that the total forest area increased by 1.64 million ha (26.98 to 28.62 million ha) from 1990 to 2005. The composition of forest cover types of dense forest, shrubs, sparse forest and other forest remained approximately consistent over time, and the dominant cover type was dense forest. There was a uniform spatial distribution of forest cover change. The forest cover in North and Northeast China changed dramatically from 1990 to 2005, but the changes in Meng-Xin and on the Loess Plateau were not as extensive. The afforestation and reforestation projects made great strides toward increasing forest cover, whereas forest fires, forest harvesting and deforestation caused by urban and farm-land expansion led to decreases in forest cover. The annual average temperature and precipitation had clearly changed, and increased forest cover could slow down the rate of climate change to some extent in this region. Proper planning and implementation of afforestation and reforestation projects were essential to improving the-natural conditions in the TNSFR. Information about the actual forest cover changes would help in the design of appropriate forestry policies and sustainable forest management strategies.

The Top-Down Approach to Providing ICT Access to Rural Communities in China: Opportunities for Community Informatics

Community informatics (CI)—as practiced by Western academics and social activists—was introduced to China by a group of library and information science scholars in about 2010. But before this encounter, there was already a growing push in China to connect local communities with information communication technologies (ICTs). This work is generally known in China as community or rural "informatization." Although the new, Western-origin community informatics efforts did not completely overlook existing Chinese endeavors, they have so far done little to relate to ongoing domestic projects. This article attempts to place community informatics in relation to Chinese rural informatization programs in general, and to public access projects in particular. In the process, it examines the opportunities and challenges facing the newly imported community informatics projects. It shows that while CI brings a new perspective to Chinese endeavors, it faces a very different political, institutional, and social environment from what it has known before—one which favors a top-down approach to providing community-based ICT. This calls for prudent assessment of the relationship between CI and both rural communities and government-led projects.

NAFTA on the Brain: Why Creeping Integration Has Always Worked Better

This paper argues that since the completion of the NAFTA in the early 1990s, there has been too much focus on what governments in Ottawa, Washington, and Mexico City have or have not been doing to deepen North American integration. The NAFTA was an anomaly that obscures the larger history of incrementalism that has shaped North America's political economy. A focus on large, government-led integration projects like the NAFTA as a model for North American integration distracts from an examination of the many connections and processes taking place across borders every day. Security has become fully entrenched as a driving paradigm of North American relations. However, much of the activity in this domain and others is taking place at the bureaucratic, sub-state, and non-state levels rather than via active direction from national leadership. As scholars and analysts of North America, we would do well to move away from the NAFTA as a model for negotiating North America's future.

Egypt: building an information society for international development

This article examines Egypt's attempt to build an information society for international development as defined by four key variables: an IT infrastructure, a knowledge economy, a public culture of discursive openness, and formal legal institutions which support the digital age. The main finding is that given serious infrastructural challenges, as well as a tendency towards political and economic centralisation, the efforts of a series of government-led projects are unlikely to affect all but the top of the Egyptian social pyramid for the immediate future.